Tenured Professor Removed At U Of I

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees dismissed an engineering professor who had a 50-year career at the state's flagship school Thursday. Administrators say it's the first time a tenure decision went to the board.

Louis Wozniak

Credit University of Illinois

Louis Wozniak was charged with harassing a student, improperly obtaining and publishing grades and sending an email to students that included a sexual reference. He apologized for that email the next day, though has claimed he did nothing wrong.

Wozniak was suspended with pay from his $85,000-a-year job in 2010 after the email.

U of I President, Robert Easter, says the board felt Wozniak was a threat to students' rights. "This has been a long deliberative process governed by the university statutes and the goal throughout has been to give due process to the professors .... and we've now arrived at a point where the board has made its decision," he said.

Previous to the board's vote, a faculty review committee had found Wozniak was in error in just one area, and said his three-year suspension was penalty enough.